Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against viruses,
spyware and spam, today announced the availability of a new
free-of-charge, standalone tool offering comprehensive rootkit
detection and removal capabilities.
Sophos
Anti-Rootkit complements Sophos Anti-Virus 6.0 and other
vendors' anti-virus solutions by providing an additional layer of
protection for the Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 operating systems.
Unlike other tools available, Sophos Anti-Rootkit warns if removal
of a particular rootkit will impact upon the efficiency or
integrity of the infected PC's operating system. This feature lets
network administrators make an informed decision on how they want
to proceed.
Sophos Anti-Rookit features an easy-to-use
graphical interface.
A recent web poll of 335 business users, conducted by Sophos,
found that 55 percent of respondents worry that a rootkit might
infect their computers. A surprising 37 percent admitted to not
knowing what a rootkit was.
Survey results
Do you worry about rootkits infecting your
company's computers?
|
| Yes |
|
|
| No |
|
|
| I don't know what a
rootkit is |
|
|
Rootkits are software frequently used by third parties - usually
a hacker - to hide other software and processes using advanced
stealth techniques. Malicious code, such as spyware and keyloggers,
can be invisibly cloaked from detection by conventional security
products or the operating system making them hard to detect.
Hackers use rootkit technology to maintain access to a compromised
computer without the user's knowledge.
"Rootkits are being increasingly used by hackers to hide a
variety of criminal activities, including spyware designed to steal
usernames and passwords, denial-of-service attacks, and spam
campaigns. This research shows that many companies are concerned
about this threat entering their corporate network," said Phil
Wood, product manager at Sophos. "Meanwhile, it's a genuine concern
that many users don't appear to know what a rootkit is, and may be
oblivious to the threat. Windows users need to wise-up to the
latest tricks being used by hackers, and ensure they have the tools
in place to protect themselves."
Sophos Anti-Rootkit provides an easy-to-use graphical interface
showing information on hidden system resources, including the name
of any discovered rootkit and required action. Sophos's rootkit
protection has been designed to identify known and unknown
rootkits, and is available to
download - free of charge - for non-Sophos users, as well as
existing customers.
"Most reputable anti-virus software, like Sophos, can stop known
rootkits before they are installed, but if a rootkit is already
active on a PC it can cloak itself from view, meaning many security
programs will find it almost impossible to detect," continued Wood.
"Sophos Anti-Rootkit works at a low level to detect and eliminate
known and unknown active rootkits, complementing Sophos Anti-Virus
6.0 to ensure that users' PCs are properly secured."
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that this poll is not
scientific and is provided for information purposes only. Sophos
makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the results other than
that they reflect the choices of the users who participated.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.